2) Later in January, MHP chief executive Gavin Devine wondered aloud whether Taylor Swift is "the best person at PR, like ever?" Devine argued that the pop princess could hardly put a foot wrong as she mastered the art of engagement on one hand while, seemingly, appearing everywhere at once, to the delight of her fans.

7) Conor Nolan, a freelance brand and communications specialist, took issue with Mathew Freud’s quote that there is "nothing sadder than a 40-year-old PR person". 50-year-old Nolan argued that the industry was becoming a little obsessed with youth and the ability to wield social media over experience.

10) The (we’re told) usually mild-mannered Jonathan McCallum, head of sport at Ogilvy PR, got angry at brands for failing to put their money where their mouths are and properly support women’s sport. McCallum’s tirade followed hot on the heels of the success of England’s female football team at the Women’s World Cup. He told brands it was nothing short of a responsibility for them to invest in women’s sport, particularly at grass roots level.

August

11) The emergence of the ‘sweaty-gate’ scandal, over a faked case study elicited some strong opinions from readers. "Nobody outside PR land cares," argued Andy Barr, ‘head yeti’ at 10 Yetis. "What is interesting, and by interesting I mean hilarious, is reading comments from holier-than-thou fellow PR agency owners feigning disgust that this kind of thing goes on and chucking rocks from their glass houses at the agency in question. Bore-off."

12) But one person who did care was Rob Brown, then CIPR President-elect, who decided to "call time on PR bullshit" and argue that taking money to mislead journalists and the public was unethical, plain and simple.

The prospect of customer’s visiting a brand’s Facebook page and registering their antipathy would have community managers "reaching for the crisis-management documents as often as their content plans" he argued.

17) John Higginson, head of corporate comms at ICG, said it was time for big pharma companies to start defending themselves. Since the 1950s, global life expectancy had risen from 40 to 70, largely as a result of life-saving drugs. And yet, surveys show public trust in big pharma is at similar levels to that of tobacco or oil companies.